Minister Raymond Cho – Minister for Seniors and Accessibility

Raymond Sung Joon Cho first arrived in Vancouver B.C. in 1967 as a landed immigrant from Seoul, South Korea. As a newcomer to Canada, he worked three jobs simultaneously as a miner, waiter and a janitor, in order to pay for his university education. He earned two Master’s degrees in Social Work and Education, followed by a Doctorate in Counseling Psychology from the University of Toronto.

After pursuing a career as a social worker with the Catholic Children’s Aid Society, Raymond made his first foray into politics in 1991, when he was first elected as a Metro Councillor. He was eventually re-elected a total of eight times as a Toronto City Councillor since. He was also elected four times as the Chair of Board of Management of the Toronto Zoo and was instrumental in bringing the pandas from China to Toronto.

In September 2016, Minister Cho won a provincial by-election in the riding of Scarborough-Rouge River and became the first Korean born member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Aside from his public life, Minister Cho is also heavily involved in advocating for humanitarian causes and strives for the fair and equal treatment of all people. In 2008, Minister Cho founded the Global Youth Leaders, an organization that provides international leadership opportunities for high school students. In both 2010 and 2012, Minister Cho led the group to the Philippines to assist with the rebuilding of homes for typhoon victims. He also led students twice from GYL to Jamaica to help orphans and seniors with HIV and AIDS.

Minister Cho and his wife, Soon Ok, have been living in Scarborough for the past 45 years and they have three children and six grandchildren.

Minister Cho will speak during Session 1: Welcome and Keynote of the conference on March 22 starting at 8:30 a.m. Eastern